Gold Medal and Travel 2 have confirmed there are “no plans” to relook at dropping either of the brands or amalgamating them for the foreseeable future, after carrying out a survey of 3,500 agents and seeing a 15% increase in overall B2B sales, writes Jennifer Morris.
The results of the survey have led to a number of changes, including the decision to overhaul the brands’ telephony system and a 30% increase in fam trip places.
Since dnata acquired Stella Travel Services in 2014 there has been speculation that the Gold Medal or Travel 2 brand would be dropped, but Gordon McCreadie, director of sales and marketing, told TTG that the recent survey had helped “back up” its position on this.
“There is a belief we’re going to make this big bang announcement about our brands and agents,” he said.
“I would be lying if I said for the last three years we haven’t been doing due diligence, but this research was partly done to back up our decision to develop both brands separately, making sure we improve the offering of both.
“We wanted to know if that’s what agents wanted, and the answer was a loud and definite ‘yes’.”
Matt Appleby, director of product and commercial, added: “The research told us that we’ve got the number one and two brands in the market by far in terms of volume and who agents like to work with.
“Both are performing really well, so why would you change anything and risk the performance?”
Following the survey, Gold Medal and Travel 2 will now invest in their telephony system, to increase personalisation. Agents will be able to speak to a specific person directly.
A new version of Goldmedal.co.uk will also go live with a “key group of test agents” this week, with changes to the customer journey, functionality, product amount and flexibility.
Travel 2’s website will also see some enhancements.